


The Legacy of the Vex

by Leopardmask



Category: Legacy SMP
Genre: Gen, Legacy season 2, Mind Manipulation, Vex Magic, but I'm trying to make it make sense to non-HC viewers too, non-permanent minecraft death, references to Hermitcraft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:53:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28572564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leopardmask/pseuds/Leopardmask
Summary: Their influence spreads across worlds. Here, the Vex have found another subject to play with - but in this world, there are already other forces at work.
Comments: 48
Kudos: 24





	1. Mistakes Were Made

Villagers generally got along well with Players. They either didn't bother each other, or the Players would actively help defend the villagers and their homes. So, when more than a dozen Players found themselves stranded in the desert, the villagers welcomed them in. Some were wary of the zombie-like Player in the group, but he made his home some distance away, didn't bother the villagers, and generally acted more like a Player than a zombie. The first Player to cause a problem was, instead, a bumbling human.

\-----

“Uh, Skizz?” Sausage tapped his shoulder nervously.

“Yeah?”

“I got a bad feeling about this. I don’t think that worked.”

The two of them had just finished luring away and dispatching a pillager patrol that had wandered in. Skizz had just killed the leader, with precautions to prevent a-

Raid horns sounded in the distance. Maybe he hadn’t been as far outside the village border as he thought.

Skizz and Sausage shared a nervous look. “Uh-oh.”

Both ran to opposite ends of the village to put up the best defense they could. Logic poked his head out of his house at the sound of the raid horn, and joined in. Almost immediately, a death message sounded on Skizz’s communicator: Sausage, to a vindicator. Skizz started running back the other way, killing the vindicator just as Sausage reappeared to regroup.

Things started to go downhill when the ravagers showed up. The Legates had only just arrived in this world; none of the three defenders had ranged weapons, or even shields. The first ravager threw Skizz, trapped Logic on a pillar of sand, and attacked Sausage when he tried to come to Logic’s rescue. After respawning, Skizz had a bright idea and ran off, leaving Sausage to defend against the rest of the raid wave alone.

Skizz returned as soon as he could with a lava bucket, with which he trapped the ravager snapping at Logic. As he scooped the lava back up and Logic descended carefully from the pillar, Skizz started apologizing furiously. “I’m so sorry!” he started, glancing around at the village as the horns sounded again. “This whole thing is my fault-”

Something cold stabbed through his chest. Skizz caught a brief glimpse of the Vex that had flown through him from behind, before his breath caught, he fell, and died. Again.

In the next minute, Skizz was running toward the fray again. He had picked up a sword. Was it his? It didn't matter. The Vex that had killed him before swooped toward him again. Skizz dodged left and sliced the Vex out of midair. He grabbed the drop without looking at it and ran.

He was trying to find the others when he heard a high-pitched screech, looked up, and saw a cloud of Vex spiraling into the sky. _What...?_

They all swooped inward at once. Skizz’s communicator sounded.

**LogicalGeekBoy was slain by Vex**

Another cloud of Vex rose, then fell.

**MythicalSausage was slain by Vex**

And another, all around him.

**Skizzleman was slain by Vex**

And then, the Vex vanished, leaving only a few pillagers to drive away.

\-----

With the raiders finally dispatched, all the emeralds, crossbows, and totems of undying were brought to a chest near the village center. All resources, especially items as valuable as these, were to be shared and made available to anyone. But as Skizz was putting away what he had found and reorganizing his stuff the way he liked it, an unfamiliar item caught his attention. He stepped out of view of the other Legates to take a closer look.

It had obviously fallen from the Vex he had killed. Sometimes, when something was killed in this world, it would leave behind a facsimile of its head. Plenty of people had been goofing around with fish or rabbit or spider heads already. This one was a little different, though. Instead of fitting over his entire head, this was just a mask, made out of what looked like some kind of ceramic or crystal. An ethereal glow shone from the eyes and mouth.

This was no ordinary loot. This was a trophy. And since it didn't have a practical use, Skizz was sure the other Legates wouldn't mind if he kept it for himself. Especially if they didn't even know he had it.


	2. A Deal Forged

Skizz sat on his bed, turning his trophy over and over in his hands. It felt nice to the touch, cool and smooth. There was no visible strap or anything to hold it on his face. There also didn't seem to be any actual eyeholes; the eyes looked painted onto a solid shape. Idly, Skizz held it up to his face to see if he could somehow look through.

He let out a small gasp at the energy that rushed into him, and snatched his hand away. The mask stayed perfectly on his face. He could see just fine, his vision tinted ever so slightly blue. He started to stand up.

**Welcome, Raid-Bringer.**

Skizz startled and fell back onto the bed. “Who’s there??”

A quiet laugh echoed in his mind.  **Ye know us. Ye fought and died to us. We like ye, so we granted ye our prize.**

Skizz frowned, and felt the eyes of the mask frown with him. He traced his hand over the surface. “So wait, like... Vex or something?” He sort of remembered his friends mentioning Vex, in some capacity beyond “those annoying little ghost things”, but it had been a while.

The laugh again.  **Indeed, Raid-Bringer!**

“So you guys think I’m a cool dude,” Skizz questioned, “ and my prize is... a spooky mask and voices in my head?”

**Oh, but we grant more than our voice,** the Vex corrected.  **We grant ye our power.**

Energy swept through him again, arising in blue swirls and sparks at his fingertips. Skizz stared in amazement, experimenting with manipulating the blue light. “Magic? Oh, that’s awesome! Ooh, and it's blue. What can it do??”

**Most anything ye can imagine,** the Vex replied.  **We will teach ye. As long as ye wear the mask - and someday, even without it - ye can channel our power.**

Skizz closed his hands into fists, putting out the light. “I gotta show this to someone. Man, the things I could do for-”

**Not yet.** Suddenly, Skizz was stuck. He couldn’t move. Just as he was starting to panic, though, he was released again.  **This is our little secret.**

“I don’t know if these people are real big fans of secrets,” Skizz murmured. Something wasn’t right here. But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, it was dismissed as overreaction.

**Dark times are coming,** the Vex warned, suddenly serious.  **Nights of fighting and bloodshed, these people ye trust so easily turning on each other in blind rage. Without us, ye will fall into the same fog of war. We see, in your soul, ye know that winning a fight against your fellows will not come easily. With our help, ye can defend yourself against the violence to come.**

Skizz shivered. These guys could read his mind, and had some sort of control over his movement, and he wasn't sure he was a fan. "You're a dirty liar," he accused. He drifted his hand toward the edge of the mask. "You can't see the future."

**Vex do not lie. We see more than ye know. We are familiar with the Withering that destroyed their world and makes its way ever closer to this one. We know the ways its chaos ebbs and flows.**

Unwillingly, Skizz’s hand froze in place before it reached the mask, then fell back to his side. He started getting nervous again. But at the same time, he found that he knew what the Vex were getting at. He didn't think he was very good at many of the things he  _ wanted _ to be good at. The Vex promised to augment his skills, to help him with the building and fighting that he struggled with. Their magic would be a huge boon. And, if they were telling the truth, of bloody nights ahead... well, Skizz was all too willing to level the playing field a bit.

  
“Alright, then, Vexies,” Skizz decided. “Show me what you - what  _ we _ can do.”


	3. Chaos and Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first chaotic event has begun.

"There’s only one shape here, see? There’s no-"

Pearl stopped mid-sentence. Skizz turned to her curiously as something shifted. The sun was setting on the conversation, and something felt wrong-

A slow smile crossed Pearl's face, the red light of the moon reflected in her eyes. She drew her sword.

Skizz's heart thudded. He itched to reach for his own sword, but he probably couldn't beat Pearl in a fair fight. So he turned and ran, only slowing long enough to kick the button to open the door of his house. It was safe in here, he hoped.

**Why do ye hide?**

Skizz glanced over. The mask on the armor stand in a hidden corner glowed with life.

**We warned ye of this, and we told ye to use our power.**

His eyes flicked between the mask and the door. Some part of him still wanted to go out and fight. Skizz stepped closer to the armor stand. “Yeah, you did say that...”

Pearl halted at the iron door and pounded on it with her fist. She didn’t want to break into someone’s home to satisfy her craving for fighting, but it was infuriating that such an easy target had just run to safety instead of facing her.

She was about to turn and leave when someone flew  _ through _ the closed door, sword in hand. Pearl, caught off-guard, tried to deflect it, catching a glancing blow to her shoulder.

Skizz - for that was unmistakably who it was, despite the mask hiding his face - pressed the attack, pushing Pearl back. The moment she moved her shield out of the way to retaliate, Skizz’s sword - was that enchanted iron? Who enchanted an iron sword? - was buried in her chest. Her own sword should have connected. How had it missed?

Pearl tried to meet Skizz’s eyes defiantly, but they were covered by the glowing mask. Only a hint of red from the moon shone through. Then, her vision faded, and she fell.

The next morning, Pearl cautiously made her way back to Skizz’s house. The bloodlust that had taken her last night had vanished with the morning sun; she assumed the same of Skizz, but was a little leery of the way he had acted under the blue mask.

Skizz was nowhere to be found at that moment. But there was a chest outside the door with Pearl’s name on it. Inside were all the tools, armor, and weapons that she had had on her when she died, and a diamond block labeled “For Your Help”, but everything else - all the building blocks and random items she had been using to try to help out - was gone.

\-----

Python shivered slightly in anticipation as he watched the sun set. He knew what was coming. They all knew, now.

He breathed out a quiet breath through his sharp teeth. The withering of thoughts and instincts, the group-wide bloodlust for one another, had started a few nights ago. Python was one of the Legates who found themselves enjoying the blood nights, the haze that descended over everyone’s mind as the sun descended over the horizon. He used to be a monster of the night himself, after all. Sure, he had been civilized for a long time now, but that was all the more reason to occasionally enjoy his chances to go wild. The fire of battle burned in his belly, waiting to be released. He flexed his fingers - not much of a weapon, since he kept his claws filed down to make humanoid life easier - and crept toward the village center. 

Movement near the hillside instantly caught his attention. He pressed himself against a wall, some clearer part of his mind reminding him to draw his sword. There were no footsteps. Stealthily, Python peeked around the corner. There! The figure was hard to recognize at first, but they were definitely human. Python could  _ tell. _

Or... mostly human. There was something else, too. The sapient part of Python’s brain could have figured out that the person in front of him wore a mask, and that mask was important - and dangerous. But that part of Python was asleep right now.

The human stepped close, not noticing or not acknowledging his presence. Python’s inner fire burned hotter. He gave a long, harsh hiss of warning, then launched himself out of hiding, sword slashing toward the startled human’s neck.

The human dodged with unexpected agility, the sword blade passing so close it looked like it had passed through without harming them. They glowed, an iron sword appeared in their hand, and the fight was on.

Two swords clashed and clanged across the path. Python’s diamond sword glimmered with enchantments, but his prey's sword shone with chaotic fire. Every exhaled breath was another threatening hiss. Although the blood-red moon hadn't dulled his sword skills like it had his other human-like memories, he hardly landed a hit on his prey. When he finally did, the human staggered back, more surprised than hurt. Then, the human dismissed the spectral sword and swept their arm dramatically. A spike of faintly-glowing stone erupted at an angle from the ground, thrusting itself through Python’s chest.

Python woke sluggishly in the bed on his self-made island. The moon was still high overhead, but death had cleared his mind just a little bit. He still smoldered with the need to get out and  _ fight, _ but he forced himself to stay put for a little while longer, and reflect on what had happened.

He still wasn't thinking quite straight enough to recognize who he had fought, nor to see the significance of what they wore. He remembered the fight, though, and let out a slow sizzle of frustration. His prey had  _ cheated. _

He paced his island, tried to sleep, and bided his time until sunrise, knowing that seeking revenge now, with no armor or sword, would only get him killed again quicker. With sunrise would come peace, and more importantly, clarity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda scooched some canon around to make it fit. Of course Pearl's and Skizz's blood night interaction was not on the very first blood night, but I made it that way so I could include the scene and write about the general confusion of the event.


	4. Seeing Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skizz is confronted by the deeds he's done.

Skizz sat up in bed with a grumble. He hadn't been sleeping well. No one had, with the Withering pushing at everyone's minds, making them want -  _ need _ \- to fight as soon as the sun set. But ever since he had killed Pearl with brutal efficiency and a fancy sword on that first blood night, Skizz was frequently awoken by dreams about doing the same thing to other Legates. Last night's dream was different, and particularly vivid - it involved a new way of killing that Skizz had never seen before. And his victim was-

A knock on his door drew his attention. Skizz looked over and jumped when he saw a creeper face pressed against his window.

After a moment, he registered that it was a  _ red  _ creeper face. This did nothing to calm his nerves. He had just remembered who had died in his dream last night - and realized that maybe it wasn't a dream that time.

"Skizzleman? Are you in there, buddy?"

Skizz wrapped his blanket around himself. “No, I’m not!” he called back. He had left Python’s gear in a chest outside. Python could have just grabbed it and left. But instead, Python was here to confront him, to tell him off, maybe even take out his anger on Skizz, or get him thrown out of the settlement to fend for himself in the desert...

“I want to help you, man,” Python called. “This isn’t about the fighting. Well, it kind of is, but it’s more than that. I promise, I just want to talk.”

More than that? More than the fighting? Then what...  _ oh. _ Skizz gave the armor stand in the corner a sideways glance. The mask hanging off it seemed to laugh at him. It had taken him all of a week and a half to be found out.

Then again, Skizz clearly didn’t know what he was doing. He could use Python’s help, assuming Python was being honest about that. “Okay, okay, fine. Come on in.”

Python stepped inside Skizz's humble home, finding a place on top of a chest to sit. "Thank you. You look nervous."

"Well, I mean," Skizz said, "I haven't exactly been honest with you guys, have I? I got this... this  _ thing _ dropped on me out of nowhere, and it's cool and all, but it won't even let me talk about it!"

Python nodded sagely. "That sounds about right for Vex. Cool and mysterious."

"So," Skizz observed, "you have some experience with these guys, Mr. Smart Guy Creeper Man?"

Python waggled his head. "Secondhand. I used to be good friends with a couple people who dealt with Vex."

Skizz frowned. “Not here, though, right?”

“No, not here,” Python confirmed. “Long before I was, uh, summoned here, back when I was in Hermitcraft.” He grinned. “Did your friends ever tell you the story of Tango getting turned into an ice princess?”

“You know, I think I do remember hearing that,” Skizz laughed. “Was that really a Vex thing? The one talking to me seemed a little sinister, you know?”

“Maybe it seems scary because you didn’t know what was happening,” Python speculated. “From what I gathered, Vex are attracted to people’s desires and ambitions, and they boost that. My friends were already a couple of pranksters, so the Vex had them doing even bigger and cooler pranks.”

“All they’ve done so far is make me good at killing people,” Skizz grumped. “Does that mean that’s what I really want in life?”

“Of course not!” Python exclaimed. “Remember, we’ve got the Withering messing with our brains too. Right now we  _ all _ want to kill each other, whether we like it or not. Your Vex are just picking up on that. You’ve said in the past that you’re not really a good fighter, right?”

Skizz nodded.

“Then that’s what they’re doing for you! They’re making sure you can hold your own out here.”

Skizz sat up straighter, looking more comfortable. “Like they told me before,” he remembered. “They warned me about the blood nights, but I wasn’t sure I believed them. Didn’t think they were telling the whole truth. Maybe they were!”

“Do watch out a little bit,” Python warned him. “But yeah, honestly, for now enjoy your cool magic! And hey, no hard feelings about killing me with it last night. That’s just something we all have to deal with right now.”


	5. The Language of Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skizz learns a powerful new tool, and makes a powerful new friend.

It was the middle of the night when the Withering energies shifted. The clashing of weapons suddenly ceased; the moon shone white across the landscape. Legates who had been fighting each other moments ago turned to apologize... and realized that they couldn't find the words.

The Withering had changed its focus, it seemed, from violence to confusion, decaying the players' power of speech rather than their consciences. Nothing that anyone said came out the way they wanted, words mutating and dying before they could be spoken.

\-----

“So... now what?” Skizz asked the mask hanging on its stand. “Now that the… fighty time? Fnights? Now that the fnights have stopped, are you just gonna leave or what?”

**Of course not!** The Vex seemed surprised at the suggestion.  **We chose ye. Ye are ours. Once a Vex, always a Vex - we never intended to leave after a single Withering, nor ever.**

"Oh! Well that's pretty... pretty, uh..." Skizz cleared his throat. "Hey, how come you aren't having talky problems like the rest of us?"

**We are unaffected by the Withering of Speech because we do not speak,** the Vex explained.  **Our communication with each other and with ye is more direct. As our servant, ye are also able to “talk” mentally with us, and our conversations will not be hindered.**

Skizz raised his eyebrows. "Sounds like a s... a de- dangit! Sounds good, how about." He closed his eyes, trying to imagine himself thinking something  _ at _ the Vex.  **Like this?**

**Just like that!** the Vex confirmed, seeming pleased.  **Humans are naturals at telepathy, when given the chance. Ye have so much imagination that ye can easily grasp the skill.**

**Well, hey, there's something I'm good for, at least,** Skizz joked.  **Wait, can I talk to the other Legates like this? That would be so cool if we could all just dodge the talking issue completely!**

**Unlikely,** the Vex answered.  **There are no other servants of Vex in this world.**

**Are there other magic users?** Skizz wondered.  **What about that?**

**That would depend on their patron,** the Vex explained.  **We don't-**

But Skizz was already eagerly "yelling", trying to cast his silent speech as far as he could manage.  **Hey! Hello out there! Anyone?**

**A valiant effort,** the Vex commended,  **but-**

**Whoa! Hello?? I didn't- wait a minute. You're not... who** **_is_ ** **that?**

**It's Skizzleman, dude! I've got magical mind powers now! But I'm also bad at matching up voices - who are** **_you?_ **

**This is Chim! Where the heck did you get magic like this? I hadn't heard of any new additions to the Holy Bee priesthood...**

**Bees? I don’t know anything about bees,** Skizz replied.  **I got it from-** He winced at a sudden headache, pressing his hands to his temples. “Agh! Why??”

**Ye are not to reveal our presence yet,** the Vex commanded.

**Hate to break it to ya,** Skizz pointed out, switching back to mind-speech with the Vex alone,  **but I’ve been caught already. Python knows all about you.**

**The creeper would have known anyway,** the Vex told him.  **He will keep our secret.**

**How do you know?** Skizz started.

**Hey, are you okay?** Chim broke in.  **You kinda cut out there.**

**Everything’s fine,** Skizz grumped.  **My, uh, my source is a secret. Yeah.**

**Oookay,** Chim decided.  **Sure. If it’s so secret, though, why were you yelling into the Void about whether anyone could hear you?**

**Because this is exciting!** Skizz exclaimed.  **Didn’t you notice? Everyone’s having problems with turning what’s in their brains into words, but since we’re talking directly out of our brains we have no problem!**

**Oh whoa, you’re right,** Chim realized.  **We just totally bypassed the issue! If only we could talk to non-magic-users like this, right? Is that what you were trying to do?**

Skizz nodded, then remembered that Chim couldn't see him.  **That is exactly what I was hoping to do. That sucks that I can't help everyone out a little with that... but hey, that means we've got an exclusive free pass!**

**That we do,** Chim agreed.  **We haven't really seen much of each other, I feel like. I guess it'll be nice to get to know someone new.**

**Yeah, might as well, right?** Skizz declared.  **Give ourselves a break from talking weird now and then.**

  
**Exactly,** Chim finished.  **In that case, I guess I'll see you around, magic buddy.**


	6. The Use of Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's this stuff good for, anyway?

Skizz approached the mask again, setting it on his face with only a little hesitation.  **I think it’s time for me to learn more about magic.**

**We agree,** the Vex replied smoothly.  **A little trickery to start your day, perhaps.**

Skizz grinned.  **Trickery, huh? I do like the idea of getting a reaction out of someone with this. Ooh, can I do anything a Vex can do?**

**Anything a** **_ven_ ** **can do,** the Vex corrected.  **The summoned spirits of our magic that ye are used to seeing are not us. Ye can do more than a ven, but ye do not have the same power as a true Vex. Ye understand?**

**Eh, semantics,** Skizz brushed it off.  **Alright, I can do anything a** **_ven_ ** **can do. So that includes stuff like flying and going through walls, right? I remember doing the wall thing during a blood night...**

**Indeed. Flight will come more naturally when ye have earned your wings, but even now, our power can lift ye from and through the ground.**

**So basically, I can be a ghost and haunt people,** Skizz decided.

The Vex giggled.  **Delightful!**

**That’s great,** **because I have a neighbor just on the other side of this wall,** Skizz tapped the west wall of his room, **who might be fun to give a good haunting to. I don’t think I want him to realize it’s me, though, or the jig will be up before it starts.**

**Your magic can change your voice,** the Vex revealed,  **if that is your concern.**

Skizz nodded. Suddenly, his hand started moving of his own accord. He yelped and grabbed it.  **Don’t** **_do_ ** **that!**

**We are teaching you the spell.**

Skizz sighed.  **Okay, fine.** He let go, watching apprehensively as his hand moved toward his neck. Two fingers tapped against his throat.

“Test, test,” he tried, and burst out laughing. His voice sounded like he’d been drinking helium - closer in tone to the Vex “voice” in his head than to his normal voice. He could definitely get away with this.

  
  
  


“Mythical... Mythicallllll...”

Skizz stifled a laugh, watching Sausage flinch at the sound of the strange, high voice emanating from the walls. Skizz could see surprisingly well from where he was floating between their bases; as soon as he entered solid terrain, it became invisible to him, allowing him to see into every cave and room nearby. But Sausage, on the other side of the wall, couldn’t see Skizz at all.

Skizz dropped down and moved through the floor until he was hovering just under Sausage’s feet. 

“Mythical!” Skizz yelled sharply. 

Sausage jumped and scrambled backward. “What’s going on? Who’s there??”

“Nobody,” Skizz answered, moving around behind walls and floor as he spoke. “Just a spooky ghooooost!”

Sausage drew his arms close to himself, eyes darting around, trying to find the spirit. “W-what do you want from me, Mr. Ghost? Why are you haunting me?”

Skizz paused at that. He hadn’t actually thought that far ahead. “Um... uh... give me... give me some blue shinies?” Although his voice was distorted with magic, he was still speaking aloud, and so couldn’t manage to utter the word “diamonds”.

“R-really?” Sausage replied. “Uh, I guess, if that’ll make you leave me alone...” He crept to his ender chest. Skizz followed around and below, staying out of sight, making “oooooooo” sounds at Sausage the whole way.

Sausage took out a few diamonds. He looked around, unsure, and tossed one experimentally on the ground. When the haunting didn’t stop, he threw another diamond.

Skizz didn’t really want to make his friend pay exorbitant amounts for the privilege of getting rid of him... or did he?

Nah, not this time. Skizz reached up, his hand appearing out of the floor, and snatched the diamonds. “Thank youuuuu,” he called, drifting away back to his own base.

Back at home, Skizz collapsed onto his bed, dissolving into a fit of high-pitched laughter. “That was-” He coughed, then tried again. Now, his voice was back to normal. “That was  _ great,” _ he exulted. “The look on his face-” He broke into more giggles. “And I got two d- two blue rocks out of that! Whaddaya know!”

The Vex laughed with him.  **Ye could have taken more from him, ye know.**

**I guess.** Skizz switched to silent speech.  **That wouldn’t have been very nice, though, would it? Even though we don’t have much use for diamonds around here right now.**

**They may not,** the Vex corrected,  **but ye do. Diamonds are a conduit of magic in all forms - including Vex. They are useful to keep and collect.**

**Huh. Well, now I know that,** Skizz replied.  **Hey, you said something earlier about ‘earning my wings’ or something - what needs to happen for that? I still haven’t gotten to look for elytras and I miss being in the air.**

**That will come soon enough,** the Vex assured him.  **They are formed of your magic, from holding and using it, and in that ye have only just begun.**

\-----

It had been a few days since his ghost prank. Skizz gently pushed at a villager. "Go... that way!"

The villager humphed at him. Logic chuckled as he worked on coaxing another one to its station, with marginally better success.

An idea came to Skizz. He glanced around, making sure that no one was watching. Then he held his hand out, making it glow with a threatening blue fire.

"If you don't go where I want you to go," Skizz growled, "I'll... uh... do something with this that's not very nice. Got it?"

The villager's eyes widened at the sight of the blue magic, and it scrambled to its station before Skizz was even finished talking. Immediately it started chattering to its neighbor, spreading the word of warning.

"Whoa," came a surprised voice behind him. 

Skizz spun around to face Logic, quickly extinguishing the magic.

"What did you do to the poor guy?" Logic asked, smiling like it was nothing serious, but clearly curious and a little concerned.

"I, uh..." Skizz fumbled. "I'm just very... ugh!" He sighed frustratedly as he lost the word "persuasive". "Alright, what did you see me do?"

"Not much," Logic admitted. "But I could definitely tell you used some kind of energy that I don't think I've seen before, and that made the... guy... immediately do what you wanted them to."

Skizz frowned. He was pretty sure that with his back turned, the magic he'd threatened the villager with would have been completely hidden. "How did you even see that?"

Logic fidgeted with the earpiece of his glasses. “It’s something I cooked up to make red... working with red dust clearer. I found out later that it actually highlights  _ any  _ legerdemain around, and just now I saw some around you.”

  
“Look at you, getting around this with your big words,” Skizz commented jokingly. “Yeah, I’m kinda magical now. I guess it’s not that much of a secret, but I’m trying not to shout it to the whole place yet. I don’t know how they’d handle it-”  _ Either the Legates or the Vex, _ he added silently to himself.


	7. Shifting Tides of Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Vex can't always beat the Wither.

**The seasons are changing,** the Vex warned.  **A Withering of defenses approaches. Ye will not be able to wear our mask as this occurs.**

"What?" Skizz frowned. "Why not?"

**It is a defensive item, is it not? Like armor, it must be set aside soon. But ye will have our magic still, and our guidance. We will prepare ye.**

Following an unspoken command, Skizz reached for his mask and put it on.

A shock of magic coursed through him, stronger than any other time he had worn the mask. And the magic kept flowing, filling his nerves and veins with power. It felt amazing, but it also made him nervous.  **Why are you doing this?** Skizz asked suspiciously.

**Think of it as a stockpile. A precaution,** the Vex explained.  **Ye have not been able to use magic very much without us yet, but we are granting ye enough to use freely during this Withering.**

Skizz started to shiver, despite the warm climate. This really was a lot of magic. And they were still feeding it into him.  **Uh... don’t you think that might be enough?**

**No.**

Blue arced across his hands as he wrapped his arms around himself. He couldn’t stop them, he knew - if he tried to pull the mask off before they wanted, they would just freeze him in place until their work was done. Even though-

**Ow! You’re hurting me! It’s burning my face!**

**That is not our magic. The Withering of Defenses has begun. All around ye, the other residents of this world are being forced to remove their armor, as it burns them too.**

The Vex sent one final blast of magic, then allowed Skizz to rip the mask off his head and throw it down, before picking it up again and putting the mask neatly back on its stand. His heart was pounding so fast he could barely tell one beat from the next. Now that the mask was off him, he only felt the cold, raw power of the Vex magic.

It was this moment that Python walked in on, hoping to just check on his friend and talk about the new shift. Skizz whipped around at the sound of his door opening, causing Python to step back in surprise at the intensity of the blue-white glow in Skizz’s eyes. Skizz relaxed a little when he saw who it was, but the magic wouldn’t let him sit still for long. “Python!” Skizz exclaimed, trotting over to greet him. Python noticed with alarm that Skizz’s voice was pitched a little high, and slightly echoed, just from the magic in his system. Skizz was also panting, as though he’d just run a lap around the entire settlement.

“Dude!” Python greeted back, catching Skizz before he danced out of reach again, one hand soothingly on his back. “What happened? What did you do??”

“It was their idea,” Skizz answered, a little tightly. “Can’t... can’t wear the mask for a while, so they tanked me up full of magic early. Whether that was a GOOD idea or not, I dunno yet.”

“Yeah, you look like they gave you more than you could handle,” Python observed. “Ah! What-” He jerked his hand away from Skizz’s back.

Skizz stepped away. "Did I accidentally zap ya? There is a lot happening right now and some of it is definitely happening right where your hand was.”

“It wasn’t a zap, more like a... hmm. Turn around for a mo’ and let me see?”

Skizz frowned in confusion, but obliged. Python could now easily see two sharp, blue crystals growing and branching out from Skizz's shoulder blades, visibly getting bigger by the moment. Unthinkingly, Python reached out and touched one. Skizz jerked violently away. Python put his hands up. "Sorry!"

"What  _ was _ that?" Skizz wondered. "You didn't even touch my back, but I felt it anyway? That was a  _ completely _ new sensation, and not a very good one."

"Right, right," Python remembered. "Vex don't like people touching their wings."

“I certainly don’t-” Skizz started. “Wait a second. Wings??” He twisted around, moving his head back and forth, trying to see over his shoulders. Python stepped back to avoid getting hit by the growing crystal points. “Oh! I think I see something! Those are  _ wings? _ They look so weird!"

“They’re pure, crystallized magic, I think,” Python explained. “They may or may not look much like wings even once they’re done growing, but that’s what they are. I guess they’re really important.”

“Well, this is exciting,” Skizz commented.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” Python wondered, wrinkling his flat nose. “It looks painful.”

“Surprisingly, no,” Skizz observed. “It’s pretty  _ weird, _ and it felt bad when you touched it, but otherwise it’s fine. Kinda good, actually, because as these grow-” he poked his thumb backward - “I’m coming down off that magic high I was on a little.”

“Oh, yeah, your eyes aren’t glowing as bright as when I walked in,” Python noticed. “The wings must be pulling some of that away.”

By the time the process had concluded, the crystal wings had grown and twisted into branching shapes the size of elytra. Skizz experimented with moving them and folding them against his back in the same way. “This is so cool, dude.” He flicked his wings, grinning as the slightest motion lifted him off the ground. “I’m flying again! Who cares about elytra, right? This is my method of transport from now on.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any questions about my worldbuilding or anything, feel free to ask! This is a new fandom to write in for me and I'm still getting used to the culture and the lore!


End file.
